For many, many years musicians have had the extremely vexing problem of properly supporting and holding their sheet music, whether bound or not; and particularly when placed on the piano, organ, music stand or the like instrument, such that they can quickly and easily turn the pages as they play or read from the music. Their problem is exacerbated by a number of items apparently inherent in the instruments and music they must use.
The instruments themselves normally have a back support and a ledge or shelf for holding the music open, but to keep the music from slipping off the shelf a restraining ridge along the front is provided. In some cases this ridge is quite pronounced. The disadvantage of the ridge is that is can obstruct the free turning of the pages, thereby causing some tearing and other mutilation of the pages, not to mention the stress on the musician.
Certain sheet music is either extremely flimsy and thus difficult to grasp and turn without damage; while other, such as tightly bound music books have such a tension that the pages actually "float" or stand out from the book, refusing to lay flat against the back support.
Page turning has always been a problem for the musician, due primarily to the pages which rest closely against each other such that it is extremely difficult for the musician to quickly grasp and turn the page.
A number of mechanical devices have been developed to try to aid the musician to solve these difficulties, all without success, although the use of spiral and ring binding have helped with page flotation. An example is U.S. Pat. No. 1,023,403 to Willi which shows a complicated mechanical music page holder and turner. Musicians themselves manipulate and otherwise work--as by folding pages, pasting, etc. in order to try to solve these problems. But the trail of soiled and torn lower outer corners of well used music books, and the frustrated and embittered musicians gives evidence of these problems being in the main unsolved.